About & Frequently Asked Questions

Foreword

Pokémon has always had a special place in my life. I still remember the way it swept through elementary school like a wildfire back when it came out in 1998; I was in kindergarten. It was like nothing else I had ever seen. My first game was Pokémon Yellow, and I've played one entry from each generation since. Watching the franchise evolve over the last 15 years has been incredible.

Each game brought with it a new sense of adventure and new discoveries you couldn't help but fully explore. The regions are rich with historic fiction, real-world parallels, and incredible wonders, drawing fans, including myself, into a universe that we've all secretly (or outspokenly) wished we could live in and experience for ourselves.

Unfortunately we can't actually go to the Pokémon world, but we can bring a key element of it into ours—music. It's one of the critical components of the games which binds us to our characters as they experience fear, heroism, sympathy, and joy. By producing this album using 100% live elements, we hope to bring Pokémon to life in our own world more than we ever have before.

Double Team! is the result of our combined efforts over the past three months. It was hard and grueling at times, but the amount of support we received from so many different sources made it a more-than-worthwhile learning experience. We sincerely offer our thanks to everyone who helped make it all possible, and extra thanks to composers Junichi Masuda, Go Ichinose, Shota Kageyama, and Hitomi Sato for writing such a great volume of music over the years. We hope that through this re-imagining of music from Pokémon, you are able to fully experience the musical gifts their collective talents have granted us. So long and thanks for all the rare candy! We hope you enjoy.

Eric BuchholzArranger/Orchestrator, Double Team!

I remember the days of my childhood when I used to play Pokémon Crystal for hours on end, traveling across the Johto and Kanto regions in search of adventure. There was never a dull moment passing between routes, cities, and caves as I hummed the catchy tunes that accompanied me along my journey. To me, the soundtrack was more than just bleeps and bloops. It was part of a gaming experience that instilled in me a sense of curiosity, wonder, and excitement.

Four generations later, the Pokémon franchise has spawned over a dozen video game titles that continue to captivate millions across the globe, along with an ever-growing catalog of soundtracks that perfectly capture the mood and vibe of all six regions in the main series.

It's been a thrilling couple of months putting together what we feel are some of the best tracks from each generation into one album, Double Team!, for our fellow Pokémon trainers to enjoy. As the first Pokémon Reorchestrated production to be 100% live-recorded, it has also provided us with a wealth of learning opportunities and a chance to add an extra layer of emotional depth to the music that cannot be achieved by means of virtual instruments.

None of this would be possible, of course, without the wonderful compositions of Jun'ichi Masuda, Go Ichinose, Shota Kageyama, and Hitomi Sato. We hope this album does their music and the Pokémon franchise justice!

Our record label, Joypad Records, is working with the copyright holders of the original soundtrack to make sure that our music meets all of the necessary legal requirements to be protected under copyright law. Joypad Records is an independent San Francisco–based label that provides copyright clearance, digital distribution, and royalty reporting for video game music covers. As a label, their goal is to make it as easy as possible for musicians to get their music out to the world without having to worry about the legal complications of selling and streaming their music.

We would very much like to continue selling Double Team! as a physical album once the pre-order sale has ended. However, we can only continue manufacturing physical albums as long as there is high enough demand. They won't be available forever!

Yes! Unlike Kanto Symphony, this album was produced entirely live with no virtual elements. The instrumentation breaks down as 4 violin I, 4 violin II, 3 viola, 2 cello, 1 bass, and 1 piano. We "triple tracked" everything on the album so it sounds like 42-strings + piano instead of just the 14 + piano! All musicians are local to the Seattle area, with many being members of the Seattle Symphony.

If you haven't already, you need to fill out the Kickstarter survey which was sent out on November 1st so we can ship your rewards. If you can't find it, log into your Kickstarter account and there should be an option available on your dashboard. If you need help resolving any issues, please contact us via email at team@pkmndoubleteam.com.

All customers who placed a pre-order should have received a receipt and confirmation email from WePay. The receipt is proof of purchase and means you are in our customer database. If you have not received any confirmation, it means that the transaction was not completed.

Unfortunately the arrangement was sounding a little.. underwhelming. We decided it wouldn't be right to leave out all of the brass, saxophone, and percussion. Instead of "faking" it with just the strings and piano, we wanted to put our recording time to better use and triple track everything. We hope you'll forgive us!